Friday, August 29, 2014

Fall film season blasts off: My 10 most anticiapted upcoming movies

With Labor Day weekend upon us and the first film festival of the
fall underway in Venice, the summer movie-going season is coming to a close. The
comic book movies and young adult fiction adaptations will linger at the box
office, and the next Hunger Games
sequel is on the horizon, but for the most part, we are approaching the prestige
season.

It is that time of year when studios set their sights on the Oscars and
break out the kind of high-minded, star-studded films they hope will strike a
chord with critics and audiences alike. In other words, it is my favorite time
of the year to go to the movies. With that in mind, I put together a list of my
10 most anticipated films set to screen over the next few months. Feel free to
chime in with yours in the comments section.

10. Interstellar, directed by
Christopher Nolan (release date: Nov.7)

Nolan is a filmmaker I admire more than love. I appreciate that there
is a director of his stature taking the risks he does on the budgets he is
given. While I am often lukewarm on the films he makes, I am in awe of his
tenacity in getting them made. A new movie from Nolan is reason enough to be
excited, but one that deals with space exploration, the fate of mankind and
this planet, and the kinds of deep connections that make us human? Count me in.

9. While We’re Young,
directed by Noah Baumbach (release date: to be determined)

Baumbach has a tendency to be hit or miss, occasionally climbing too
deep into his particular milieu. Those who saw Margot at the Wedding know what I mean. But The Squid and the Whale is among my favorite films, and last year’s
Frances Ha was a genuinely surprising
delight. Here, he reteams with Greenberg’s
Ben Stiller and adds Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver, and the
wonderful Charles Grodin, about whom it is impossible to write enough nice
things. The cast alone is enough to spark my interest in this admittedly clichéd
logline: A middle-aged married couple loosens up after meeting a younger
couple.

One of the late Roger Ebert’s favorite young directors, Bahrani specializes
in stories of the American Dream and how that dream is pursued and perverted.
As such, the story of a man forced to work for the real estate broker who cost
his family its home would seem to be right in his wheelhouse. Add to that
Michael Shannon, whom I would watch paint a fence, and Andrew Garfield ditching
the Spider-man suit, and the recipe is there for a searing portrait of life in
the U.S. after the economic collapse.

7. Fury, directed by David
Ayer (release date: Oct. 17)

Truth be told, I am a sucker for a good war picture. Any era, any war,
plop me down in front of a band of brothers on a mission, and I am yours. Fresh
off an Oscar win for producing 12 Years a
Slave, Brad Pitt executive produces and stars in this actioner about a tank
crew in the last days of World War II. Ayer, perhaps best known as the writer
of Training Day and the original The Fast and the Furious, is behind the
camera for this one. In his previous directorial efforts, he has displayed an
eye for unique visuals and a capacity for intensely claustrophobic action
sequences.

6. Gone Girl, directed by
David Fincher (release date: Oct. 3)

I am unfamiliar with the source material, other than its status as a
megahit bestseller. Fincher is at his best with pulpy thrillers like Seven, Zodiac, and The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo, and this one should line up nicely alongside those titles.
Rosamund Pike stars alongside Ben Affleck, who having proved himself behind the
camera will hopefully have a chance to flex his acting muscles before focusing
on his real muscles as Batman.

All I have to go by on this one is reputation, but that reputation
includes a win for its screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival this year and
near-universal praise for this far-reaching tale of human insecurity and
weakness. This may be a bit more under the radar than some of the other films
on this list, but everything I read about this film suggests it is pure cinema
at its best.

4. Unbroken, directed by
Angelina Jolie (release date: Dec. 25)

When people talk about “Oscar bait,” this is the kind of movie they
mean: an inspiring true story about an Olympic athlete who also was an
honest-to-goodness war hero (Louis Zamperini, who died in July at the age of
97). The film is practically dripping in prestige, but I firmly believe Jolie
is not chasing an Academy Award or anything of the sort – after all, she has an
acting Oscar for Girl Interrupted – rather
the story itself is so compelling that she simply had to tell it. That alone is
worth celebrating.

Anderson is incapable of directing a boring film. I was head over heels
for his last effort, The Master, and
find myself more intrigued with each new movie he releases. Joaquin Phoenix
delivered a performance of stunning power and control the last time these two
worked together, and it is intriguing to think what they might pull off this
time – with source material from Thomas Pynchon, no less. While Anderson has
shown a penchant for strict formalism of late, this film is shaping up to be a
return to the pulsing rhythms and gonzo energy of earlier works like Boogie Nights.

2. Foxcatcher, directed by
Bennett Miller (release date: Nov. 14)

The notices were stellar coming out of Cannes, where Miller picked up a
Best Director prize for his work on this picture, and the buzz around it has
only grown louder. Miller made his name with the true crime/biographical film Capote and looks to be returning to that
fertile ground once more. Steve Carell looks downright terrifying in the
trailer, and this may prove to be the perfect vehicle for Channing Tatum, a
wonderfully talented comedic performer, to announce his presence as an actor
ready to tackle more serious fare.

This sits at the top for a host of reasons, not least among them the
reviews trickling out of Venice, which could not be more laudatory. Inarritu’s “Communication
Trilogy” (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, and Babel) stands among the towering achievements in cinema over the
last 15 years. If you have not seen any or all of those films, I urge you to
make a special trip to the video store – or more likely get your Netflix queue
in order – and block out some time. You will be glad you did. For Birdman, it seems as though Inarritu has
narrowed his focus to the mind of one man without sacrificing any of the scale
of his previous efforts. Michael Keaton looks to be doing career-best work in
the leading role, and I am equally excited by the prospect of supporting turns
from Edward Norton and Emma Stone. This is all not to mention the technical prowess
of the filmmaking, which I understand is considerable. These films will all
have my full and undivided attention, but I will be first in line on opening
day for Birdman.

1 comment:

Good list. It's tough to whittle it to ten, but I would have to provide a little addendum. First up is Miss Julie, based on the malevolently badass play by August Strindberg and directed by Ingmar Bergman acolyte Liv Ullman. Also, St. Vincent because Bill Murray. Need I say more? Also, even though Labor Day was utter tripe I am bullish on Men Women & Children by Jason Reitman.